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PERSONAL:<br />
Born: 10/18/46, Mt. Airy, N.C.<br />
Hometown: Hillsville, Va.<br />
Wife: former Cheryl Oakley<br />
Children: Shane, Casey<br />
EDUCATION:<br />
High School: Hillsville (1965)<br />
College: Virginia Tech (1969)<br />
Postgraduate: Radford University (1972)<br />
PLAYING EXPERIENCE:<br />
Virginia Tech (1966-68)<br />
Tech won the BIG EAST title in 1995 and 1999<br />
and shared it in ‘96. Beamer was voted BIG EAST<br />
Coach of the Year by the league’s coaches each<br />
of those seasons.<br />
There have been plenty of other accolades<br />
for the Hokies’ coach. Prior to the 2005 season,<br />
a Seattle Times poll of more than 40 coaches<br />
voted Frank Beamer as the current head coach<br />
for whom they had the most respect. When BIG<br />
EAST Conference football celebrated its first 10<br />
years of existence in 2000, Beamer was voted<br />
the Coach of the Decade by the league’s media.<br />
In 1997, he was inducted into The Virginia Tech<br />
Sports Hall of Fame.<br />
The rise of the Tech football program has made<br />
Beamer a man in demand. It has opened doors<br />
to places he may never have dreamed of as a<br />
youngster growing up in Southwest Virginia.<br />
In September 2000, Beamer was invited to<br />
the White House where he joined a select group<br />
that stood in the Rose Garden behind then-<br />
President Bill Clinton as he made remarks on<br />
the Conservation and Reinvestment Act. Beamer<br />
was one of the keynote speakers at the American<br />
Football Coaches Association Convention in<br />
2000; and, in April 2001, he joined former Prime<br />
coach beamer’S profile<br />
COACHING EXPERIENCE:<br />
1972 Graduate Assistant, Maryland<br />
1973-76 Assistant Coach, The Citadel<br />
1977-78 Defensive Coordinator, The Citadel<br />
1979-80 Defensive Coordinator, Murray State<br />
1981-86 Head Coach, Murray State<br />
1981 (8-3)<br />
1982 (4-7)<br />
1983 (7-4)<br />
1984 (9-2)<br />
1985 (7-3-1)<br />
1986 (7-4-1) Ohio Valley co-champion<br />
Record at Murray State: 42-23-2 (six years)<br />
1987- Head Coach, Virginia Tech<br />
1987 (2-9)<br />
1988 (3-8)<br />
1989 (6-4-1)<br />
1990 (6-5)<br />
1991 (5-6)<br />
1992 (2-8-1)<br />
1993 (9-3) Independence Bowl champion<br />
1994 (8-4) Gator Bowl<br />
1995 (10-2) BIG EAST champion, Sugar Bowl champion<br />
1996 (10-2) BIG EAST co-champion, Orange Bowl<br />
1997 (7-5) Gator Bowl<br />
1998 (9-3) Music City Bowl champion<br />
Minister of Great Britain Lady Margaret Thatcher<br />
as one of the featured speakers at SUCCESS<br />
2001, one of the nation’s most popular business<br />
seminars.<br />
In April 2004, Beamer was presented with a<br />
Humanitarian Award by the National Conference<br />
for Community and Justice for his contributions<br />
to fostering justice, equity and <strong>com</strong>munity in the<br />
Roanoke Valley. An avid NASCAR fan, Beamer has<br />
been the official starter for races at Bristol Motor<br />
Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.<br />
In 1990, Beamer received a new contract<br />
and a substantial pay raise. He refused the<br />
raise, however, until a time that all classified<br />
and faculty employees of the university could<br />
have the same opportunity for pay raises. Most<br />
state salaries had been frozen at the time. When<br />
offered a pay increase in 2006, he did not sign<br />
the agreement until his assistant coaches were<br />
taken care of first.<br />
Another indication of Beamer’s love for the<br />
university came on the night he was inducted into<br />
The Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame. He called<br />
it the biggest honor of his entire career. With the<br />
induction, he became the first active coach at the<br />
university to be honored in that fashion.<br />
1999 (11-1) BIG EAST champion, Sugar Bowl<br />
2000 (11-1) Gator Bowl champion<br />
2001 (8-4) Gator Bowl<br />
2002 (10-4) San Francisco Bowl champion<br />
2003 (8-6) Insight Bowl<br />
2004 (10-3) ACC champion, Sugar Bowl<br />
2005 (11-2) ACC Coastal champion, Gator Bowl champion<br />
2006 (10-3) Chick-fil-A Bowl<br />
2007 (11-3) ACC champion, Orange Bowl<br />
2008 (10-4) ACC champion, Orange Bowl champion<br />
2009 (10-3) Chick-fil-A Bowl champion<br />
2010 (11-3) ACC champion, Orange Bowl<br />
2011 (11-3) ACC Coastal champion, Sugar Bowl<br />
Record at Virginia Tech: 209-98-2 (25 years)<br />
Overall head coaching record: 251-121-4 (31 years)<br />
BOWL/PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE:<br />
Player<br />
1966 Liberty (Virginia Tech vs. Miami)<br />
1968 Liberty (Virginia Tech vs. Mississippi)<br />
Coach<br />
1979 Division I-AA Playoffs (Murray State, semifinals)<br />
1993 Independence (Virginia Tech vs. Indiana)<br />
1994 Gator (Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee)<br />
1995 Sugar (Virginia Tech vs. Texas)<br />
1996 Orange (Virginia Tech vs. Nebraska)<br />
1997 Gator (Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina)<br />
1998 Music City (Virginia Tech vs. Alabama)<br />
1999 Sugar (Virginia Tech vs. Florida State)<br />
2000 Gator (Virginia Tech vs. Clemson)<br />
2001 Gator (Virginia Tech vs. Florida State)<br />
2002 San Francisco (Virginia Tech vs. Air Force)<br />
2003 Insight (Virginia Tech vs. California)<br />
2004 Sugar (Virginia Tech vs. Auburn)<br />
2005 Gator (Virginia Tech vs. Louisville)<br />
2006 Chick-fil-A (Virginia Tech vs. Georgia)<br />
2007 Orange (Virginia Tech vs. Kansas)<br />
2008 Orange (Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati)<br />
2009 Chick-fil-A (Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee)<br />
2010 Orange (Virginia Tech vs. Stanford)<br />
2011 Sugar (Virginia Tech vs. Michigan)<br />
The 65-year-old Beamer, the first alumnus<br />
to guide the Hokies since the 1940s, took over<br />
the Tech reins from Bill Dooley in January 1987.<br />
He began work a few days after the Hokies had<br />
beaten North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl. It<br />
took a while for him to get the Hokies moving in<br />
the right direction because the football program<br />
was hit with NCAA sanctions at the time.<br />
But everything came together in the 1990s.<br />
The Techmen finished 9-3 in 1993 after beating<br />
Indiana, 45-20, in a wild Independence Bowl<br />
game. Tech followed up with an 8-4 season in<br />
1994, losing to Tennessee, 45-23, in the Gator<br />
Bowl.<br />
The Tech teams in 1995 and 1996 were among<br />
the best in school history. The 1995 team swept<br />
the BIG EAST Conference championship outright,<br />
and the 1996 club tied for the title with Syracuse<br />
and Miami.<br />
The 1995 team was 9-2 during the regular<br />
season and then came up with a stirring 28-10<br />
victory over Texas in the Sugar Bowl. The 1996<br />
team went 10-1 during the regular season and<br />
lost to powerful Nebraska, 41-21, in the Orange<br />
Bowl after giving the Cornhuskers a fierce battle<br />
for three quarters.<br />
2012 Virginia Tech fooTball<br />
19<br />
STaff
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